courtesy Hyder
First comprehensive flood risk model of Great Britain
Infoterra Ltd has entered into an agreement with Jeremy Benn Associates (JBA), to produce and market a unique flood risk assessment product for Great Britain.
The partnership will combine Infoterra's highly accurate geospatial data with JBA's hydrological analysis expertise to provide a comprehensive flood risk model of Great Britain. This model will, for the first time, look beyond river and coastal flood risks to also take account of flash flooding, dam break and groundwater, which the Association of British Insurers (ABI) believes now accounts for half the UK's insurance claims for flood damage.
The new flood risk product being developed by JBA, utilises sophisticated modelling techniques, perfected over many years, which harness graphical processing power. This product will prove particularly valuable for risk assessment decision support within a range of market sectors, including insurance/reinsurance, property/environmental, utilities, risk management and government agencies.
Jill Boulton, Technical Director at JBA, stated: "The ABI has indicated that the cost for the UK's 2007 summer flooding alone was approximately £3bn, and affected over 58,000 homes and businesses. However, the Environment Agency also suggests that pluvial flooding where drains are unable to cope with flash floods was the cause of approximately 70 per cent of the properties damaged in the Summer 2007 floods. This kind of risk has never been addressed before by traditional flood models.
"Partnering with Infoterra will allow us to bring new levels of intelligence to flood risk predictions and deliver the world's first national flash flood map," she continued.
"It's clear that there's a requirement for more accurate and comprehensive data to help insurers, developers and householders prepare for - and prevent - future flooding," added Gill Dickson, Divisional Manager, Insurance at Infoterra Ltd. "By combining our highly accurate height data with JBA's latest ultra fast two-dimensional modelling techniques, we will provide the intelligence to clearly indicate those areas and properties which are vulnerable to flash flooding."
The complete model of GB will be launched later this year and will be available as an online risk assessment service.
